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OMRI Daily Digest 5 June 1996

Vol. 2, No. 109, Part 1, 5 June 1996

The OMRI Daily Digest is published by the Open Media
Research Institute, a nonprofit, public service research organization
funded by the Open Society Institute, independent grants, and contracts
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RUSSIA

CHECHEN PEACE TALKS BEGIN. Russian and Chechen
delegations opened peace
talks in the Ingush capital, Nazran, on 4 June, Russian and Western
agencies
reported. AFP quoted Chechen delegation head Said-Hassan Abdumuslimov as
stating that he would demand a referendum on Chechnya's future political
status, a postponement of the scheduled 16 June election to a new Chechen
People's Assembly, and the withdrawal of all Russian troops by a specified
date. The Russian military insist that a withdrawal of Russian troops by 1
August is contingent on the Chechens disarming. The talks focused on
procedural
issues; two working commissions were created to discuss military issues as
well
as the exchange of hostages and prisoners of war on an "all for all" basis.
Despite the ceasefire, there was sporadic small arms and machine gunfire in
Grozny during the night of 4-5 June, Reuters reported. -- Liz Fuller

ZYUGANOV MAKES OVERTURE TO THIRD FORCE. Communist
presidential candidate
Gennadii Zyuganov announced on 4 June in Novosibirsk that he would offer
members of the "Third Force"--fellow candidates Grigorii Yavlinskii,
Aleksandr
Lebed, and Svyatoslav Fedorov--positions in his "government of popular
trust,"
ITAR-TASS reported. Zyuganov said that the candidates could consider his
statement an "official invitation." Zyuganov is hoping to revive his
flagging
campaign by trying to convince Third Force supporters that he would
represent
their interests better than Yeltsin. However, all three candidates have
stated
that they will not withdraw from the race before the first round, and their
actions before a possible runoff remain unpredictable. -- Robert Orttung

CHERNOMYRDIN STAYS THE COURSE. Prime Minister Viktor
Chernomyrdin denied
that he has been "in the shadows" in recent months, according to an
interview
published in Komsomolskaya pravda on 4 June. He remarked "I
am prime
minister, not a television star." He urged voters to re-elect President
Yeltsin
and see through the reforms, instead of abandoning them half-way as has
been
the case so often in Russian history. Chernomyrdin said he paid no
attention to
rumors of his resignation. He said "Boris Yeltsin never took me by the
hand,"
but let him run things his own way. As for Chechnya, he said the peace
talks
"were not between victors and vanquished"; and noted that he recently
signed a
604 billion ruble ($120 million) decree for postwar reconstruction. --
Peter
Rutland

CENTRAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION INVESTIGATING GRACHEV
STATEMENT. The Central
Electoral Commission (TsIK) is conducting an investigation of Defense
Minister
Pavel Grachev's assertion that the sailors who voted early had unanimously
supported President Yeltsin. Revealing the initial findings of the study,
TsIK
Chairman Nikolai Ryabov said on 4 June that "the secrecy of the ballots
had not
been violated" and that Grachev's comments reflect his personal opinion,
ITAR-TASS reported. According to the electoral law, results cannot be
reported
until voting is completed on 16 June. Izvestiya on 5 June
commented that
Grachev's remarks suggest that the military is not being permitted to vote
freely and secretly, and serve as further grounds for his dismissal. --
Robert
Orttung

DEBATE OVER FALSIFICATION CONTINUES. Communist
campaign manager Valentin
Kuptsov repeated on 4 June that his party plans to deploy 200,000 poll
watchers
who will obtain copies of the voting protocols from each electoral
commission
to make sure that there is no cheating, ITAR-TASS reported. He rejected
presidential aide Georgii Satarov's recent assertions that these people
would
merely disrupt the voting. Duma Security Committee Chairman Viktor Ilyukhin
announced that he had send a letter to the Central Electoral Commission
listing
dozens of electoral law violations by President Yeltsin's team. Meanwhile,
Moskovskii komsomolets charged on 4 June that one third of
the local
electoral commissions are sympathetic to the Communists. Rossiiskie
vesti on 5 June asserted that any "falsification of the election
results is
impossible" because the electoral commissions are composed of
representatives
from different parties. -- Robert Orttung

DEFENSE LAW SIGNED. President Yeltsin on 1 June signed
the law on defense,
Krasnaya zvezda reported on 4 June. The law, which was
approved by the
Duma on 24 April and the Federation Council on 15 May, delineates the
powers
and duties of federal and regional bodies involved in Russia's defense and
the
rights and obligations of Russian civilians (see OMRI Daily
Digest, 25
April and 16 May 1996). The military newspaper stressed that, unlike the
old
defense law, the new legislation requires state bodies that include armed
formations to abide by unified mobilization and combat-training plans. --
Penny
Morvant

OUSTED MAYOR VOWS TO CONTINUE HUNGER STRIKE. Former
Vladivostok Mayor
Viktor Cherepkov, who began a hunger strike on 28 May, vowed on 4 June to
continue until a criminal case is opened against those who ousted him
unlawfully and a court reviews his appeal against a December 1994
presidential
decree. Cherepkov became Vladivostok's first democratically elected mayor
in
1993 but was removed in March 1994 on corruption charges later proven false
(see OMRI Daily Digest, 29 May 1996). Primorskii Krai
authorities then
used fraudulent documents to persuade President Yeltsin to issue a decree
removing him from office, Cherepkov claims. In his view, Yeltsin's decree
violated the constitution and various federal laws, but courts have
postponed
his appeal more than a dozen times. Despite his hunger strike, Cherepkov
told
OMRI that he plans to vote for Yeltsin this June. -- Laura Belin

RUSSIAN UNION OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES CREATED.
Representatives from 73 of
Russia's 89 federal subjects have signed a constituent treaty of the
Russian
Union of Local Authorities, Russian media reported on 4 June. The union,
constituted in December last year, aims at coordinating the activities of
the
country's local self-government institutions, effectively upholding their
rights, and promoting their interests in relations with federal and
regional
authorities. Union leader and Duma deputy Roman Popkovich said tha a
presidential decree on support for local authorities has been prepared and
will
be signed after the union is officially registered. -- Anna Paretskaya

PRIMAKOV CLARIFIES RUSSIAN STANCE ON NATO. Foreign
Minister Yevgenii
Primakov rejected reports by Western agencies that he had told his NATO
counterparts in Berlin that Russia could accept Eastern European countries
joining NATO so long as foreign troops were not deployed there, ITAR-TASS
reported on 4 June. Primakov said that although Russia could accept the
political expansion of NATO, Moscow would oppose any eastward extension of
NATO's military infrastructure, which he said included not just troops, but
also joint military command structures, air defense systems, intelligence
sharing, and similar measures. Nevertheless, Primakov expressed
satisfaction
with the results of the Berlin meeting, saying that NATO "had for the first
time begun to move in the direction of adapting to new realities." He also
said
that Western leaders are beginning to understand that NATO cannot expand
"without an intensive dialog with Russia" about the terms of expansion. --
Scott Parrish

ZYUGANOV ADVISER ON ARMS CONTROL TREATIES. Writing in
Nezavisimaya
gazeta on 4 June, Communist deputy Aleksei Podberezkin, deputy
chairman of
the Duma International Affairs Committee and a foreign policy adviser to
Communist leader Gennadii Zyuganov, proposes guidelines for Russia to
follow
while implementing existing arms control agreements and negotiating new
ones.
First, Russia should only implement agreements that bolster its security,
and
propose amendments to existing ones that no longer do so; second, Russia
cannot
afford to trade military concessions for political good will; third, Russia
must link arms control agreements to the behavior of other states; and
fourth,
Russia can only spend modest sums on arms control. Podberezkin's comments
suggest the approach that a Zyuganov administration might take toward
agreements like START-2, CFE, the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the
proposed
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, all of which he said need
modification
to meet his criteria. -- Scott Parrish

FOREIGN MINISTRY ENCOURAGES TRADE LINKS WITH IRAQ.
Foreign Ministry
spokesman Mikhail Demurin announced on 4 June that the Foreign Ministry and
Foreign Trade Ministry are encouraging Russian firms to open commercial
links
with Iraq under the terms of the oil-for-aid deal that Baghdad recently
signed
with the UN, ITAR-TASS reported. Demurin said that under the terms of UN
Resolution 986, which allows Iraq to sell a limited amount of oil to
purchase
food and medicine, Russian firms can conclude contracts with Iraq to
purchase
and transport oil. -- Scott Parrish

RUSSIA, U.S. HOLD JOINT ANTI-MISSILE EXERCISES.
Pursuant to a 1994
agreement, the first joint Russian-U.S. tactical anti-missile defense
exercises
have started at the Falcon military base in Colorado, ITAR-TASS reported
on 4
June. A team of 18 Russian anti-missile experts headed by General Viktor
Niruk
and 20 U.S. experts will practice coordinated anti-missile defense
operations
that could be used during future joint peacekeeping missions. Meanwhile,
Russian and U.S. naval officers meeting in Hawaii agreed to hold a third
joint
naval exercise, entitled "Assistance at Sea-96," in August near the Russian
port of Vladivostok, ITAR-TASS reported on 5 June. -- Constantine Dmitriev

UNEMPLOYMENT CONTINUES TO GROW. The number of
unemployed officially
registered with the Federal Employment Service has risen by about 500,000
since
the beginning of the year to 2.77 million, or 3.8% of the working
population,
ITAR-TASS reported on 4 June. Unemployment rates are highest in Ingushetiya
(more than 22%) and lowest in Moscow (0.6%). There are an average of nine
applicants for every vacancy. Most openings are in low-paying sectors,
such as
agriculture and education. The employment service has found jobs for more
than
580,000 people since the beginning of the year and sent 200,000 on
retraining
courses. On the basis of survey data, Goskomstat estimated that the actual
unemployment rate was 8.6% at the end of March. Meanwhile, participants in
a
conference on labor safety said about 300,000 to 400,000 people sustain
industrial injuries every year, with 7,000 to 8,000 losing their lives. --
Penny Morvant

PRIVATIZATION HEAD JOINS GAZPROM BOARD. . . Aleksandr
Kazakov, the head of
the State Privatization Commission, was appointed the chairman of the
board of
directors of Gazprom at its annual general meeting, Nezavisimaya
gazeta
reported on 4 June. Rem Vyakhirev remains the president of the company's
management (CEO). Under the law on joint stock companies which came into
effect
on 1 January 1996, the posts of CEO and board chairman cannot be held by
the
same person. The federal government still holds 40% of Gazprom shares. It
is
common to appoint government officials (usually deputy ministers) to sit
on the
boards of major companies in which the state has a block of shares, but
this
obviously raises the question of a conflict of interest. The allocation of
the
remaining Gazprom shares is not known. Up to 1 million individuals hold
shares
in the company, including its 370,000 workers and other residents of
gas-producing regions. -- Peter Rutland

. . .AS GAZPROM ISSUES ANNUAL REPORT. With sales of
123 trillion rubles
($30 billion) in 1995, Gazprom ranks among the world's top 50 companies.
Its
output is equal to 8% of the entire Russian GDP. It was owed 43 trillion
rubles
($10.2 billion) by customers at the end of 1995, rising to 57 trillion
rubles
as of May 1996. The author of the Nezavisimaya gazeta report,
Tatyana
Koshkareva, suggests that Gazprom has displaced the Central Bank as the
most
important source of credits in the Russian economy. -- Peter Rutland

TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA

SHAH-DENIZ CONTRACT FINALIZED. A consortium of
European, Russian, Iranian,
and Turkish oil companies signed a major agreement estimated at $3-4
billion in
Baku on 4 June to develop Azerbaijan's Shah-Deniz off-shore oil and gas
fields,
ITAR-TASS and AFP reported. Shah-Deniz contains reserves of 200 million
metric
tons of oil and gas condensate and 400 billion cubic meters of natural
gas. BP
and Norway's Statoil--which are the largest partners in the consortium to
develop the Chirag, Azeri, and Gyuneshli fields--have a 51% stake in the
contract; Russia's Lukoil and the Iranian state oil company have 10% each.
--
Liz Fuller

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT VISITS GEORGIA. Armenian President
Levon Ter-Petrossyan
arrived in Tbilisi on 4 June, Russian media reported same day.
Ter-Petrossyan
and his Georgian counterpart, Eduard Shevardnadze, are to sign several
bilateral agreements and a communique emphasizing the inviolability of the
Armenian-Georgian border. -- Irakli Tsereteli

RFE/RL'S GAIN, RUSSIA'S LOSS IN UZBEKISTAN?Nezavisimaya gazeta on 4
June speculated that the declining cooperation with Russian journalists in
Uzbekistan is linked to RFE/RL broadcasts to the country. The article
alleges
that RFE/RL has taken a pro-government, anti-imperial slant in its Uzbek
reporting in an attempt to prevent the country from falling back into the
Russian orbit. The paper also noted that the radio is supported by the U.S.
Congress. While Uzbek President Islam Karimov assured Russian journalists
in
February that accredited reporters would be allowed to disseminate
information
in the country, the paper observed that shortly afterward Russian
journalist
Sergei Grebinyuk was found dead and that two other Russian journalists
subsequently left the country. The article claimed that an "iron curtain"
had
fallen between the two countries in the sphere of information exchange. --
Bruce Pannier

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

RUSSIAN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARIES CONTINUE UKRAINIAN
VISIT. Pavel Grachev
and William Perry with their Ukrainian counterpart Valerii Shmarov
traveled to
the Pervomaisk missile base in Ukraine and planted sunflowers over a former
silo, international agencies reported. The ceremony marked the removal of
all
nuclear weapons from Ukraine's territory. Perry said the action will ensure
that future generations will live in peace. Kazakhstan delivered the last
of
its nuclear weapons to Russia a year ago, while Belarus had delayed
transferring the last of its warheads because of financial difficulties.
The
U.S. signed an agreement allocating $43 million to help build housing for
retired rocket forces. -- Ustina Markus

UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT PRELIMINARILY APPROVES DRAFT
CONSTITUTION. Ukrainian
lawmakers voted on 4 June to preliminarily approve the draft of a new
post-Soviet constitution, international agencies reported. Supporters of
the
draft managed to win a simple majority after President Leonid Kuchma
threatened
to call a national referendum on the main points in the document. They
hailed
the vote as a big step toward consolidating Ukrainian statehood. The draft
enshrines Ukrainian as the only state language and limits Crimean autonomy,
which is expected to elicit protests from pro-Russian forces in the
region. It
also schedules the next parliamentary elections for March 1998 and
presidential
elections for October 1999. Leftist forces said the draft is undemocratic,
giving strong powers to the president and dismantling the old system of the
soviets. Observers doubt the Democrats can muster the two-thirds majority
vote
they need to adopt the constitution in its second reading. -- Chrystyna
Lapychak

BELARUSIAN SPEAKER CRITICIZES PRESIDENT. Syamyon
Sharetsky told the
parliament that all changes in Belarus since the Soviet totalitarian system
collapsed have been for the worse, Reuters reported on 4 June. He went on
to
criticize President Alyaksandr Lukashenka for "hotheadedness, a mistrust
toward
others, and a will to take sole control of everything." Sharetsky's
statements
signal the parliament's increasing disillusionment with the president. The
same
day, an RFE/RL correspondent reported that Justice Minister Valyantsin
Sukalo
sent a second letter to the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF) warning against
unsanctioned rallies. Under Belarusian law, the justice minister has the
right
to unilaterally ban an organization after it has been issued two warnings.
Opposition members have voiced concern that the authorities are taking
steps
aimed at banning the BPF since political demonstrations against
Lukashenka's
policies began in March. -- Ustina Markus